9/16/1999 641

GROUPS UNITE TO SAVE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA STEELHEAD

Several environmental, fishing and water quality organizations have joined forces for conservation of southern California steelhead trout. The Center for Biological Diversity, CalTrout, Heal the Bay, Natural Resources Defense Council, Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, and the Sierra Club met recently to set priorities for protection and recovery of steelhead trout.

The Southern California Steelhead Recovery Coalition is dedicated to restoring free-flowing rivers and streams, riparian habitat, and watersheds in order to foster the full recovery of the Southern steelhead and other native aquatic and riparian species of Southern California.

Steelhead trout historically occurred from the Kamchatka Peninsula in Asia to the Baja Peninsula. Southern steelhead were listed as endangered by the National Marine Fisheries Service in 1997 and are found from the Santa Maria River in San Luis Obispo County to northern Baja. Less than one thousand southern steelhead remain, yet the Fisheries Service has done little to conserve the species. In 1999, the agency abandoned protection of steelhead south of Malibu Creek or upstream of dams in critical headwater spawning habitat.

Contact David Hogan of the Center for Biological Diversity, (760) 782-9244 or dhogan@sw-center for information on how your organization can join the Southern California Steelhead Recovery Coalition.